Lewis Trumps Values

No one can rightly accuse Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 of Ivy League idealism. In the short time he has held the charge of Harvard College, Lewis has been eminently practical.

When the student body rallied for the autonomy of Phillips Brooks House, the dean acted practically by keeping to his schedule rather than defend his appointment of Judith Kidd as Public Service czar to the protesters outside of his University Hall offices. And when, more recently, an attempted rape on Linden Street inspired students to decry the dearth of campus security, Lewis suggested what to him must have seemed a practical solution: women should not walk alone at night.

In both of these decisions, Lewis chose to ignore the ethical issues raised by undergraduates. The question of who is to control PBH relates to the conflicts of interest which will surely arise with administrative control of volunteered student labor. And the absence of police on the streets of Cambridge speaks to the implicit gender imbalance that has resulted from the rise in crime, given that female students are its principal victims.

Now Dean Lewis has chosen to offend the College community a third time with his very practical decision to ban Hanukkah menorahs from student dormitory rooms. Let's follow his logic. This past December, a first-year creates a Rube Goldberg menorah from a three-hole punch. The candles topple. The desk and computer catch fire. Dean thinks, "What if other desks and computers catch on fire when irresponsible students create defective holiday contraptions? We must prevent all Jewish students from lighting menorahs."

This reasoning is truly practical, but it ignores all competing claims to the legitimacy of menorah lighting other than that of fire prevention. The foremost objection to the ban is that it limits religious freedom. Candle lighting is essential to the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah because it reminds Jewish people of their Maccabean ancestors' struggles to reclaim the Temple. By placing menorahs in their windows, Jews remind others of their past struggles against oppression and their determination to ensure freedom for all.

Dean Lewis, along with many in the Jewish community, have said that the candle lighting can be performed in house common rooms--public spaces which can be safely monitored. There is nothing wrong with this suggestion. In fact, it is already practiced in every house. But the issue of banning menorah use in student rooms should not be contingent on this public display. Student religious freedom in private cannot be limited by any public substitution because the public event is not delimited by personal beliefs, but by communal ones.

The Dean might argue that dorm rooms are not private property since they are not private property since they are owned by the College. But neither is a rented apartment the property of the tenant-his or her lease is contractual based upon the maintenance of the property, not the conditions under which it must be maintained. The rub is precisely in this realm of tenant rights. If the Dean's objective is to totally outlaw fire from students' rooms, then he would have to ban fires in the fireplaces, the smoking of cigarettes and the use of house kitchens, not to mention conveniences like hot pots and microwaves. Such an unpopular move would rightly be considered authoritarian.

Intermediate steps to fire prevention from menorahs abound. Safety handbooks can be door-dropped. Aluminum trays can be provided through house offices or dining halls. Perhaps the Hillel leadership could be persuaded to offer a course on the proper lighting of menorahs. The key to all of these suggestions is that they are voluntary; they permit student freedom, but provide education in order to prevent externalities which may result from it.

Lewis, of course, believes that he is being very practical, as he did when he missed the rally for PBH independence and when he suggested that there was little more the University could do to ensure better police protection for students. The Dean is so practical that he damn near misses the point of all these student demands. In the process, Lewis allows practicality to trump values.

Joshua A. Kaufman's column appears on alternate Tuesdays.